Yellow isn’t just a colour anymore

It takes a lot to shock the She Brisbane team and we like to think we’re across what the youth of today are up to, however we have just heard of a new lifestyle app taking today’s teenagers by storm and it has opened our eyes to say the least! YELLOW is a new app being marketed as a virtual friendship application for the Snapchat generation. It even spent time as the #1 lifestyle app in the US and UK App stores.

The concept is simple and basically works like tinder. After you’ve uploaded a selfie and created an account you can begin swiping left or right when you come across someone that interests you. Both users must swipe right for a match to be made and respective Snapchat usernames to be revealed. But instead of meeting up with the person you match with, you add them on Snapchat and voila – virtual friend made!

Interestingly, the app is marketed as purely ‘friendship’ oriented. However, the app creators go against this branding and label it as a dating app for Gen Z and younger. But why would Gen Z need a dating app in the first place?

Even more bizarre is an interview we found in which the app creators make some interesting revelations. For example “we believe in five years, you will have a virtual relationship, and by virtual we mean that you won’t meet your boyfriend or girlfriend in real life”. Wait… what? What happened to the classic awkward movie dates that involve minimal conversation, awkward laughter and sweaty palms? Well that’s what we think of when we think of 14 year olds and dating.

The very elements that gives the app its appeal also open the (very young – I’m talking as young as 10) user to some downright creepy behaviour.

The idea of sharing Snapchat names with strangers is risky? Let alone giving young teenagers the ability to share photos and chat with strangers from around the world?

We put on our investigative goggles and undertook our own investigation and we discovered some interesting things…

It really is quite easy to lie about your age.

There is no regulation on the types of photos uploaded. Let’s just say the majority of them aren’t for the faint hearted.

People can be very descriptive.

It is apparent that Yellow’s original positioning as an innocent app for teenagers to add to their Snapchat following has changed to one of R-rated photo sharing and inappropriate conversations.

If you have Gen Z children with a smart phone and they are talking about Yellow, it is safe to say that they’re not talking about the colour! We suggest auditing the apps being downloaded by your Gen Z’s to limit the exposure to unwanted, inappropriate creepy activity!